Tuesday, September 30, 2008

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. – BayBio, the life sciences industry group for the San Francisco Bay Area, has teamed up with economic development professionals from the Silicon Valley north to Sacramento to launch a new effort aimed at promoting the region to biotech businesses.

The new BayBio Corridor will provide a “tool kit” of marketing materials intended to promote the counties south and north of San Francisco, BayBio president Matthew Gardner told BioRegion News.

Groups joining the effort include the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization, which serves Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba counties and 23 cities within them; the Silicon Valley Economic Development Alliance, whose membership include two counties and 23 municipalities; and the East Bay Economic Development Alliance for Business.

“We initially met two years ago to begin discussing how to provide a tool kit for promoting investment in the biotech region here in a new way,” Gardner said in an interview.

He credited Mike Amman, president of the Solano EDC, with working with BayBio on the initiative.

“We started to build a toolkit basically with a satellite flyover of al the biotech in the region. It’s just getting off the ground to build some marketing and collaborative materials,” Gardner added.

He spoke minutes after he announced the corridor effort at BayBio’s annual conference, GeneAcres 15, held Sept. 25 at the South San Francisco Conference Center.